Palliative care for children

1 June 2023

Key facts

  • Palliative care for children is the active total care of the child’s body, mind, and spirit, and also involves giving support to the family.
  • It begins when illness is diagnosed and continues regardless of whether or not a child receives treatment directed at the disease.
  • Health providers must evaluate and alleviate a child’s physical, psychological, and social distress.
  • Effective palliative care requires a broad multidisciplinary approach that includes the family and makes use of available community resources; it can be successfully implemented even if resources are limited.
  • It can be provided in tertiary care facilities, in community health centers, and even in children’s homes.

Palliative care for children represents a small and highly specialized field of health care that is different from, albeit closely related to, adult palliative care. Ideally, support for children with palliative care needs starts at diagnosis, and for many children with life-limiting conditions this can be at birth.

In the WHO European Region, it is estimated that 170 000 children in need of palliative care die each year. Data on palliative care services from the Region suggest that palliative care is available in 20 countries, with the majority of these geographically located in high-income western European countries. Palliative care is less well-developed in low-to-middle-income countries in the Region.